How to Raise Bees

Though originally viewed as a hobby by many, training to be a beekeeper today is an billion-dollar activity which requires a lot of skill, much of which is time consuming. Beekeepinghas come a long way since it became a simple hobby, and its end product, honey, is now frequently seen on tables across the world.

It is necessary for beekeepers to be well versed in bee anatomy and behavior, and among those who were not raised in a family of beekeepers, it is often necessary to seek the expertise of another beekeeper. Since bees thrive on flowers, winter would be a struggle if they did not produce honey, which is simply regurgitated food.

Bees have an amazing way to survive the winter months. Bees normally produce honey during the warmer months only, and many beekeepers farm during the cold off season. You might think this is an inexpensive hobby where you simply place boxes out for the bees to come to, but that is an oversimplification that misses the expenses involved in training.

There are numerous other insects, such as yellow jackets, wasps, mites, and hornets, which will attempt to prey on your bees, and recognizing them requires a good deal of familiarity with entomology. Science is very important in a beekeeper’s trainingand experience, and most people do not have this training initially, which is essential to have some idea how to manage bees, their habitats, and their natural pests. There are many steps involved in proper education of a beekeeper, and you need to look for someone who is serious and dedicated to a way of life that has tradition going back generations in some families.

Courtesy of grandparents and parents, many keepers learn their skills through tradition and see their skill as a way of life. It wasn’t even about making money it was actually just one other chore on the farm, but in the years it slowly progressed into a farm staple that was being sold like it was produce, meat and dairy, but it’s still a profitable market anyway you look at it and it’s one of the sweetest things in the world.

The Equipment Needed For Beekeeping

Your beekeeping activity will require you to gather some basic equipments before you can embark in this fun and challenging activity. Before the post office notifies you to collect your bees, you must have purchased this equipment allready. You cannot get started without investing in the beehive first.

Your beehive should have five supers. These supers are vital parts of your beehive because this is the area where the honey will be stored. The beehive bottom should be below the five supers and the cover must be on top. Young honeybees will also be breed in the supers, apart from the storage of honey.

When the hive starts buzzing with activity, each of these frames will show nine to ten frames. You can make your choice from among them. The merit of getting a deep super hive is that you will need only a single size of foundation. You must be ready for the weight though.

Take precaution to place your beehive on a level surface; otherwise there is the risk of the entire unit toppling over in a strong gust of wind. Take care to confine your beehive in an area where pets and people are not likely to disturb it. A spacer is a piece of equipmentbeekeepers use to keep an equal amount of space between the frames while they are in the super.

The next device you will need is a smoker. The smoker is a tool that will help you to get the bees to leave the hive as you are harvesting the honey within. The design of the smoker is actually quite minimal. A smoker contains only three parts – a funnel, a chamber where combustion takes place and bellows. Many beekeepers claim that old, clean burlap is the best material to use in the smoker because burlap is easy to ignite and smolders and smokes. You can also use dry corn cobs. At the same time, the smoke can be taken into the beehive using the funnel.

Your next bit of stuff is the metal hive tool. You can prise open the hive with this tool then the compartments can be divided and hygiene of the hive can be maintained. This single device is actually quite versatile in its usage for beekeeping. No beekeeper is ready to receive their shipment of bees until they have a bee brush. A bee brush is used to gently brush bees out of the way so that the beekeeper can examine the frames.

When extricating the honey, you will have to use a fumer board. Bees don’t like the chemicals that are dabbed onto the fumer board. eBay has lots of inexpensive beekeeping material. You get beekeeping material from several websites too, and you can even get stuff designed for amateurs.